Nut lock



A. H. BOLTZ NUT LOCK Filed Dec. 23, !9?.2

Patented May 20, 1924.

UNITED TES ARTHUR H. Bo rz, or TALLMADGE, OHIO.

NUT LOCK.

Application filed December 23, 1922. Serial No. 608,730.

To all whom it may concern:

.Be it known that I, ARTHUR H. Born, a citizen of the United States,residing at Tallmadge, in the countyof Summit and State of Ohio, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Nut Locks, of which thefollowing is a specification, reference being had tothe accompanyingdrawings.

This invention relates to nut locks, and particularly" to that class ofnut locks wherein a key is used to lock the nut to the bolt.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a nut lock ofthis character which is very simple and effective in use and which is soconstructed that the application of a wrench to the nut automaticallyreleases the locking engagement between the nut and bolt so as to permitthe nut to be rotated, and wherein the removal of the wrench from thenut causes the" automatic locking engagement between the nut and bolt.

A- further object is to provide a device of this character which useswhat is practically an ordinary bolt and an ordinary nut and requiresbut slight change in the nut and theabolt. a I

Other objects willappear in the course of the following description.

My invention is illustrated in the panyi'ng drawings, wherein Figure 1is an elevation of-a nut and bolt with'my improved nut lockappl-iedthereto;

Figure2 is an end view of the'bolt and nut and the lock;

Figure 3 is a like view to Figure 2, but showing a wrench in sectionapplied to the nut and the nut lock released from engagement with thebolt;

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the nut and bolt and nut lock; i

Referring to these drawings, it will be seen that the bolt 10 islongitudinally grooved at 11 at a plurality of points. I have shownthree grooves equi-distantly spaced from accomeach other and having adepth equal to the depth of the screw-threads 12, but I do not wish tobe limited to this as it is obvious that more or less grooves might .beused, Except for the factthat the bolt is grooved at 11, the bolt is ofany ordinary or suitable form. The nut 13 is provided upon'one of itslateral faces with a substantially U-shaped groove 14, the legs of theU-shaped groove extending parallel to the axis of the nut and eachopening at one end upon the outer end of'the nut. The transverse portionof the U- shaped groove is disposed closely adjacent U-shaped. portionof this latch or look is disposed over the transversely extendingportion of the U-shaped groove 14, while the leg 16. of the wire isdisposed in the arm 14: of the groove 1 1 and is held therein by anoverturned portion 14 .Beyondthis leg 16 the wire vis'bent at rightangles at 17 and then'formed with an inwardly projecting terminal 18which is adapted to engage in any one of the grooves 11;

It will be seen from Figure 2 that the crossbar 19 of the U-shaped wire15 is normally deflected outward from the face of the nut, while the arm20 ofthe wire extends longitudinally. and-inward and normally' onlybears at its outer end inthe groove 11.

Theoross bar 19 forms oneuarm, therefore,

of a crank, :the body of which consists of the portion16 of the wire,the other arm of the crank being the arm 17 V o N ow when the end of thecross bar 19 is forced inward, this crank willbe turned to carry theextremity 18 out ofthe groove '11. When pressure is relieved upon theout wardly projecting end of the transverse portion 19 of the wire,however, the resiliency of the arm 20. will cause the portion 19. toshift outward, which will carry the arm 17 inward and the terminal 18into engagement with the groove. Thus the terminal 18 is resilientlyforced toward'the bolt and will spring into a groove 11 when theterminal end- 18 comes in register withthe groove, i

responding portion of the groove 14 and force the transverse portion 19into the corresponding portion of the groove and this will retract theterminal 18 from engagement with the bolt, thus releasing the look. Itwill be seen that with this construction the application of the Wrenchto the nut releases thelock but that until the Wrench is applied the nutis held in its locked position upon the bolt.

WVhile I have illustrated a socket wrench A, obviously any otherwrenchwhich will press upon the transverse portion 19 of the locking devicewill release the nut lock, and under some circumstances and if the wirebe sufiiciently resilient, it is possible to press inward manually uponthe transverse portion 19 and release the look. It will beIobvious thatafter the wrench is applied the nut maybe screwed on or unscrewedwithout any attention being paid to the lock, which will remain releasedfrom engagement with the bolt'so long as the wrench is applied to thenut.

While I have illustrated a particular embodiment of my invention, 1 donot wish to be limited thereto as it is obvious that many changes mightbe made in the details of construction and arrangement of parts withoutdepartingfrom the spirit of the invention as defined'in the appendedclaims.

[It will be seen that this nut lock is of very simple construction andthat the bolt and nut and locking device can be con structed at a muchless cost than with the bolt, nut and cotter pinrnow in use. At

the same time a positive lock is secured which, however, does notprevent the ready removal of the nut at any time by the application of awrench thereto.

I claim 1. The combination with a bolt having a longitudinally extendinggroove, of a nut engaging thebolt, the lateral ,face' of'the nut havinga groove extending parallel to theaxis of the nut, and means for lockingthe nut on the bolt comprising a wire having a portion disposed in thelast named groove for oscillation around the axis of the portion, oneend of the wire being bent at right angles and constituting a crank armand extending over one end face of ,the nut and having a tooth to extendinto the groove in the bolt, the opposite end of the wire being bent toform a crank arm extending in an approximately opposite direction fromthe first named arm and normally extending at a slight angle to theperipheral face of thenut, and resilient means urging said last namedarm outward and the first named arm toward the bolt.

2. The'combination with a bolt having a longitudinal groove, of a nutfor engagement therewith, and a locking device emextends beyond one endface of the nut and is formed to provide a crank arm with a terminal endadapted to be inserted in the groove of the bolt, the other arm of thecranked portion normally extending at an angle to other end face of thenut, this cranked portion being oscillatably mounted upon the nut, thelast namedcrank arm being extended toward the face of the nut and atright angles to the crank arm and being resilient whereby to cause thesecond named crank arm to be forced out-- ward and the first named crankarm toward the nut.

3. The combination with a bolt having a longitudinally extending groove,of a nut engaging the bolt, the lateral faceof the" extending graduallyoutward from. the V lateral face of the nut and then inward and towardthe end face of the nut and having the extremity of this portionengaging in one arm of said groove, inward pressure exerted upon thislast named portion causing the oscillation ofsaid cranked member and thewithdrawal of the terminal end of the first named arm from said groove.

4. The combination with a bolt having a longitudinally extending groove,or. a nut engaging the bolt, the lateral face of the nut having a grooveextending parallel to the axis of the nut, and means for locking the nuton the bolt comprising a wire having a portion disposed in the lastnamed groove for oscillation around the axis ofthe portion, one end ofthe Wire being bent at right angles and constituting a crank arm andextending over one end face of the nut and having a tooth to extend intothe groove in the bolt, the opposite end of the wire being bent to forma crank arm extending in an approximately opposite direction from thefirst named arm the last named arm having a portion resiliently engaginga side face of the nut.

5. The combination with a bolt having a longitudinally extending groove,of a nut engaging the bolt, the lateral face of the nut having a grooveextending parallel to the axis of the nut, and means for locking the nuton the bolt comprising a wire having a portion disposed in the lastnamed groove for oscillation around the axis of the portion, one end ofthe wire being bent at right angles and constituting a crank arm andextending over one end face of the nut and having a tooth to extend intothe groove end against a side face of the nut and in the bolt, theopposite end of the wire urging the second named arm outward and beingbent to form a crank arm extending the first named arm toward the nut.

in an approximately opposite direction from In testimony whereof Ihereunto aflix my 5 the first named arm, the last named arm signature.

having a portion extending at right angles thereto and resilientlyhearing at its upper ARTHUR H. B OLTZ.

